Whether you’re a parent that loves or dreads this newly adopted American occasion, chances are your kids will not only know about it, they’ll probably have started begging you to go trick or treating.
And who could blame them? Free lollies and chocolate? Yes please!
However, not every home or neighbour is keen on people knocking on their door asking for freebies, so we’ve come up with a way to make your trick or treating run a little smoother.
1. Remind your neighbours
If your neighbours are childless or elderly, maybe remind them that Halloween is coming up and ask if they will be taking part. If not, try and avoid their home to respect their wishes. There’s no point in making bad with the neighbours over one night of the year. They may want to utilise these Halloween signs to show if they are keen or not.
2. Decorations for Halloween
If you see a house decorated in spooky Halloween stuff, it’s pretty safe to say they’re happy to have trick or treaters. If you’d like people to come to your house for a treat make sure you make it known by decorating your yard.
3. Halloween etiquette
If your kids are trick or treating, it is an unspoken etiquette to get into the spirit and also hand out lollies. It’s a two-way street, if you’re going to take, make sure you do right by your neighbours and give. If you have kids that want to get in on the fun, don’t forget to dress them up. There’s nothing worse than teens showing up with a plastic bag and no costume, just there to collect your lollies. Make sure you tell your children to thank the host too, a little manners goes a long way.
4. Adult accompaniment on Halloween
This probably goes without saying but, it’s always safest at Halloween for at least one parent to take the kids out trick or treating.
5. Orange balloon Halloween hack
Some parents have opted to leave an orange balloon with a little note asking their neighbours to blow it up and hang it at their door if they’d like trick or treaters. This idea is great for people that want to hand out lollies but haven’t had the time to decorate or for older neighbours who want to get in on the fun.
6. Trick or Treat Me app
When they say there’s an app for everything, they weren’t wrong! The TrickorTreatMe app (available on iOS and Andoid) created by an Perth mum, Krista Davies, is an app that allows families to register their house as trick or treat-friendly. With over 4000 homes registered across Australia, it makes the whole experience much easier to navigate and less ‘door-slam’ moments.
Have you gone trick or treating with your kids before? Need costume ideas? Check out these amazing Halloween costumes!
